May 10, 2008 - A milestone already!

These hatching's are growing fast! They have a little bit more fluff, their skin is less red and they seem to be moving a bit more. Today, they graduated from regurgitated food to small worms and grubs. I'm sure Mama is relieved about that! She has been working hard at keeping the babies fed and the regurgitation did not look comfortable. I have only seen Big Daddy feed them once, so he hasn't been much help in that area. The third egg still hasn't hatched. Tomorrow is it's "due date" so hopefully it will hatch on time. If not, I'm afraid it might be too small and young to compete with it's siblings who have already moved up to solid foods.

Big Mama with a mouth full of food for her babies.

I have yet to clearly see her feed the babies, never mind photograph it. I caught her a few times in the middle of feeding but wasn't able to see through the holly leaves. Mama is very leery of me and my camera now that the babies have hatched. If she is gathering food, she just doesn't want to come back to her nest when my big head and camera are in the window watching her. I eventually have to leave so her poor kids don't go hungry.

I hope I can photograph the feeding more when Lucy's kids arrive. Although, she spends a ton of time away from her nest so I don't know how successful this clutch is going to be. Luckily the rain stopped and it warmed up a bit. Hopefully this kept her eggs warm while she was gone.

Quite a few people have told me I should name the babies. Any suggestions? Leave a comment with your ideas here.

May 9, 2008 - Rain, rain go away!

It was cold and rainy all day. It was a school day for me so I didn't get to see the Mom's much. When it rains, they open up their wings to cover the entire nest to protect their young/eggs.

Lucy

I did get to sneak a peek at the two little ones tonight. The third egg hasn't hatched yet. I was happy to see two little mouths wide open and ready to eat. With the cold and rain, I did worry that Mama might lose a baby or two. The statistics for a successful clutch is only 40%. I am hoping that I won't have to witness the harsher side of nature while watching these Robin families.

More rain and cold expected tomorrow, I hope those two babies are strong enough to take it.

May 8, 2008 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Big Mama got not one but TWO surprises today!!




I was watching her this afternoon and I noticed that she was digging around in her nest a lot more than usual. I had a feeling one of the eggs might be ready to hatch. The Starling's came back into Big Daddy's territory and Mama looked fierce! She was ready to take them on if they messed with her. She never left her nest to defend it though. This was different behavior than usual since she normally chases the intruders out herself. I checked back a few hours later to find Mama gone and two little baby Robin's opening their mouths waiting for food!

They are pretty amazing to watch. They will both stretch up their necks and open their mouths as wide as they can for a few seconds. Then they both collapse and get their strength back up. They aren't able to lift their heads again for at least 5 minutes. Right now they make absolutely no sound; not even when they open their mouths to be fed. One is smaller than the other. This is probably the one that hatched 2 days too early. You can already see their animal instincts kick in. As soon as one lifts it's head and opens wide for food, the other one does soon afterwards. Darwin's theory comes into play and they aren't even a day old!

Snuggling up to their unborn sibling.

Opening wide...

Then collapsing for a rest.

VIDEO!!!!

May 7, 2008 - Warm eggs

Haven't been around much today so I didn't get to watch the ladies at all. But, I did see Big Mama sitting on the edge of her nest this afternoon. She was cleaning herself and just looking around. I know the eggs have to maintain a pretty steady temp and the Mom's will hop to the edge of the nest to cool the eggs off a bit. I this is the first time I am seeing this. Usually they only hop on the edge to turn the eggs and then they are right back on. I am assuming she is letting them cool because the little hatchlings inside are getting big and starting to give off their own heat!!

This is the holly tree where Mama is.

Her nest is right near our bedroom window!

May 6, 2008 - A quiet day

Things have been quiet for the two Mom's today. They spent most of their time in their nests. So, all in all it has been a pretty mellow day. I hope they take advantage of this down time. When those eggs hatch they will be running day and night to feed them!

Big Mama looking pretty

This is Big Daddy in protector mode.

When he senses a threat or intruder, he puts his wings down to appear larger.

This stance was directed at me this time.

I guess he thought I was too close to his nest or his woman.

May 5, 2008 - The results are in... You ARE the father!

I was beginning to think that Big Mama had a deadbeat partner. But I finally spotted him guarding her and the nest the other night. He's a handsome guy!!

Big Daddy

He keeps out of sight usually. I think he spends most of his time in the back yard, but always within earshot of Mama. I see a Robin at my feeder a lot, I am not 100% sure if this is him but I think it is.

Looks like Lucy is in the incubation stage now, I just saw the four eggs this afternoon. Usually she lays an egg between 11 AM and Noon. If you watch them enough, you can really tell their schedules. Today it seems like she has spent most of her time at the nest rather than eating. When she laid eggs she took a lot of breaks and ate a lot. She isn't doing this much at all now.

Lucy incubating

Big Mama incubating

May 4, 2008 - Quaduplets and Hawks

Lucy laid another egg today!!

She seemed really tired and kept leaving the nest to refuel so I figured she wasn't done yet! I wonder if this will be it for her. I kind of hope so, I can't imagine how hard it will be to take care of four babies!

There was lots of drama in the front yard today. A pair of Grackle's came into the yard and neither bird seemed worried. But the fathers were; I could hear them both warning the mothers but I wasn't sure why. The Grackles quickly took off. Sure enough, about a minute later I see three Red Tailed Hawk's circling! Both Mom's appeared pretty nervous and got really low in their nest's. The Dad's were hiding in their tree's squawking away. After about 10 minutes, it seemed that the coast was clear and things quieted down.

Grackle intruders

Red Tailed Hawk

Both of the Mom's decided to forage in the yard. Lucy and Big Mama had a little scuffle but nothing major. Lucy seems to hold her own against Big Mama now. Big Mama conceded and went to her side of the yard. (I wonder if things will remain this civil when they are competing for food to feed their babies) Within a few minutes the Dad's sounded their alarms again and the birds scattered. Lucy went into a tree and Big Mama hid under some pines. I saw a lone Hawk circling the tree above Lucy. She was anxious to get back to her nest but had to stay their for her own safety. After a few minutes she quickly flew into the nest and Big Mama made her way back to hers. Hopefully the afternoon will be a lot quieter for these hard working Mom's!

A showdown between the Mom's

(Lucy on Left, Mama on Right)

Lucy waiting for the Hawk to pass

Lucy quickly flying back to her nest

May 2, 2008 - More eggs, more fights.

Lucy laid another egg today:

She also had to defend her eggs pretty aggressively today. Lucy and Ricky were out foraging for worms when a Starling came into their territory. Lucy was on the lawn and Ricky was watching her from a tree branch. This Starling was looking for food VERY close to the holly tree. Starlings are very aggressive birds and will even kick a bird out of their own nests and take over. They are such menaces that they are listed on the USDA list of Invasive Species.

Lucy went right after the Starling. Ricky jumped down from the tree to be by her side but did not participate in the fight. The Starling charged Lucy but she fought back. They were fighting in the air with their feet. It was pretty exciting to watch!! It all happened very fast and I wasn't able to get a good picture of it. Luckily, Lucy won and the Starling left, no thanks to Ricky! At one point he turned his back on the fight. I guess he wanted to make sure no other predators were around.

Going after the Starling

It's on now!

After the fight a Mourning Dove came into the territory. Mourning Doves are pretty docile and Lucy didn't seem all that threatened but thought it best to go back to her nest, just in case. Before she jumped in the nest she looked right up at me through the window. I don't think she was posing for the camera but the picture sure did come out great!

Here she is turning her eggs before sitting on them.

May 3, 2008 - Another Day, another egg!

The young Mom (I'm naming her Lucy - since she seems kind of goofy and I love Lucille Ball. The Dad will be Ricky, natch) laid another egg today.



She pretty much left her first egg alone all day yesterday. She covered it up with some twigs and left. She did come back at dusk and spent her first night in the nest. I have read that the Mother can let the first eggs cool a lot more than subsequent eggs. If she didn't, they would all hatch at different times. They lay one egg a day but she won't start the incubation process until her last egg is laid. That way one egg will hatch per day, in the order that they were laid.

Last night I was lucky enough to see her in her nest for the first time. She didn't seem to know what to do. She was jumping around on the edge of the nest looking at the egg inside. She seemed pretty confused and just took off. Comparing the two birds definitely tells me that Lucy is young and has never done this before. I hope that she does ok with her first brood.

Tonight, I scared her off when I pulled into the driveway and she hasn't been back since. But it is 5 PM and both nests are empty. From what I can tell from watching Big Mama - thinking of renaming her Ethel ;) - 5 PM is usually dinner time.

May 1, 2008 - More eggs!

This morning I checked the nests and Big Mama was pretty much status quo. Sitting on her eggs, rotating every hour or so, counterclockwise. When I went out to pick up Jonnie from school there was a male robin in the tree in front of me. He started giving out a warning chirp which I thought was strange. I walked to the car and noticed that the little Robin was in her nest. She wasn't building or rearranging the grasses, she was just sitting there. It looked to me that she was laying an egg. When I came back, she wasn't in her nest and I found this:

I read that Robin's usually lay 3-4 eggs in a clutch. I wonder how many she will have?!

This is her looking much more plump than the first time I ever saw her. This is yesterday, the day before she laid her first egg:

Here is Big Mama caring for her eggs: She knows I am there looking at her and she is definitely keeping an eye on me but she doesn't seem too afraid of me now. Her eggs should be hatching in a week and a half or so, can't wait!!

April 30, 2008 - The nest is complete!

The second nest is complete! She must have worked during the early morning hours since a lot of work was done since I checked it last night. It's quite a bit larger than Big Mama's nest. It is also easier for us to view, you can see right inside the nest easily! It is closer to the window though, so she gets spooked more often. Jonnie checks the nest every morning and usually she is in there. He will yell to me, "Mom! Our Wobbin is in hur nest!"

I went outside to check her masterpiece and sure enough, the father was in a tree looking at me. He seems to guard her much better than Big Mama's partner does. The Dad started to chirp loudly and he sounded stressed so I backed away immediately.

I went over to check on the other nest, which I rarely do from outside. Big Mama wasn't there so I tried to take a peek at her three eggs. Before I could get within 5 feet I hear screaming! It is Big Mama not too far away, yelling at me! She didn't seem nervous, just angry! She was chirping VERY loud, almost like she was screaming at me. Her mouth was open really wide and she was all puffed up. Obviously I left the area. I should have known she wouldn't leave her babies unattended.

The finished product

A close up

Here you can see the layer of mud

April 29, 2008 - Turf wars

Seems like the birds are trying to figure out if our front yard is big enough for the both of them. I have seen quite a few fights between Big Mama and the other female Robin (still trying to name her, any suggestions??). Big Mama always wins. Whenever the other Robin gets to close to Mama's turf, she gets attacked. She tries to put up a bit of a fight but Mama is too big and is more aggressive since she has a nest full of eggs to protect. In the end they seem to work it out. The smaller, younger Robin moves to a distance acceptable to Mama or flies into a tree.

Big Mama seems to be used to me peeking through the window at her. Before she would look startled but now she just kind of stares at me. She is definitely on guard but not willing to fly the nest every time she seems me. It is hard not to watch her throughout the day, but I do try to keep my distance as best as possible. I always approach the window slowly so the sudden movement doesn't scare her away. She does seem a bit more relaxed in her nest than she was the first few days. She used to perk up at every sound and animal that passed by and appeared alarmed. She is still completely aware of what is going on but more relaxed about it now.